Economy Bites McCain

The overwhelmingly huge news story this week is the financial crisis. It is occurring in the midst of a tight presidential campaign that saw Republican nominee John McCain say on Monday that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong," which is a hard sell this morning.

As Dan Balz notes in an analysis, Democratic nominee Barack Obama has "hammered [McCain] at every stop since as a man out of touch with reality" and goes on to write, "Were McCain known as a student of the economy, this instance of a badly delivered statement would matter little. Because he is known as someone who is not, it matters plenty."

Almost all of our Readers Who Comment on this article seem to be Democrats, because they're rejoicing. A few posts suggest that Balz is in bed with the Obama campaign, although his analysis was very specific in noting that the race remains competitive and that national polls are tight.

We'll start with cdierd1944, who wrote, "The biggest problem McCain has is his record. He has been anti-regulation, anti-employee, pro Wall Street, anti-average citizen for so long. Now he is espousing the virtues of the average working person while the economic ideology he supported collapses around him..."

karlanne1 said, "This is a tight race after the most interesting primary season I can remember in 40 years. I'm disappointed about the tone of the campaigns - 30 second spot vs. 30 second spot. Americans have fully functional brains. The economy (thank you, George Bush) is tanking. What do the candidates recommend?..."

swiftsmail suggested, "lets overthrow this whole corrupt conceit of a republican party! Get the unblinking, unquestioning, incurious mass of Palin and Bush out here for good!"

But viejo1 wrote, "balz
I agree that McCain has a fundamental problem in that he has to contend with the old school press, who are in bed with Obama."

swlewis predicted that "when 401k statements for the quarter are sent out in October - Obama is going to surge in the polls. All he needs to do is continue to tie McCains deregulation support to those results. Election over."

Balz wrote that McCain's "best hope of winning is to make the campaign a test of character." KarenM3 quoted that line and wrote, "A month ago I would have agreed. Now I think McCain has lost that advantage. Between his irresponsible pick of Palin as his running mate and his blatant lies about Obama, we are seeing a side of McCain's character that we hadn't seen before. And I don't like it."

wilmawd said, "McCain's fundamental problem is that he is fundamentally George W Bush and Palin is Dan Quayle. If she were Dick Cheney he might have a chance."

Some people can't let go of Sen. Hillary Clinton. rockbroker said, "...Obama should be way ahead in the polls right now. Problem is the democrats screwed up when they stabbed Hillary in the back."

kattoo asked, "Are we ready for four, or eight years of "McCain-onomics" Kinda sounds like "moronics"--doesn't it?... He's clearly out of touch with how the mighty dollar works. I just don't trust him. He waffles on what he says to the American people about his economic policy....I mean, he doesn't appear to have one!"

kcleung8947 said, "When you don't know how many houses you got, the economy is certainly good and healthy and strong. What a fool he is."

DemoDevil wrote, "We're about to see income redistribution as it really is in the USA. Middle class taxpayers bailing out the idiot CEOs who collected their Bush/McCain tax cuts for the last eight years while they gambled away billions in shareholder value with bad loans and predatory lending."

c1736 said, "The recent events have taken the disguise off McCain and shown that the fundamental weakness is his apalling lack of knowledge about the economy..."

We'll close with bclook, one of many who cannot let go of the past, who wrote, "I think it is misleading to say that voters declined to give Democrats a third term in 2000... as we all know, Gore won the national popular vote. Then there was Florida... But the point is, the country DID want the Democrats in office in 2000."

McBush needed his naps and his meds, so he suspended everything. Besides he needs to study which flipflop he's now at, and learn the difference between the SEC and the FEC. AS LIAR-in-chief, he'll suspend the government so he can drill, baby, drill. He'll steer our nation the way he piloted his five crashed planes, except he's now past 72 years old and near dementia with a trembly left eye and no memory of how many houses he owns, and what his second wife's name is--he calls her "CU*T" and everyone else, except Obama, "my friends." So when he crashes the U.S. it will be a doozy. He picked Palin, to show he puts McSlime first and US last. Let's do a big favor for all the people who hate us and vote for McBush-Pain this November.

If anyone has observed so called developing nations - they would recognize a trend. This country's economy has been sent in to free fall and there is some destabilization. Pressure has been applied at the gas pump to force people to accept a position they don't wish to take. Fear is liberally distributed, at least we have equity here! Well, maybe not - some states appear in gas shortages and some not. The recommendation for bailout is a humanitarian one ... mostly ours! I wonder things like - where and how do universities keep their money? What about large foundations like Ford, and Kellog, and cities? So yeah - the ripple effect is very real. However, I am CERTAIN that Paulsen MUST appreciate that the condition was created somewhat because of adequate lack of oversight via regulation. Perhaps we can even argue that the rate of transaction so enhanced by technology has made it difficult to capture true conditions of the market at any one time. Yeah? And because of this issue ... I am sure he wishes to RECAPTURE his INTEGRITY and the integrity of his field in the eyes of the country - and adhere to some simple regulations advised by congress - from whom he/they are BEHOLDEN. Because is it not part of good business to diagram and craft a set of operations that would INCREASE the probability that there would be SUCCESS rather than failure. Isn't the principle that was neglected over the last decade: deregulation and relaxed accounting principles that has caused the 'problem'? Isn't he a banker who knows about behaving in ways to make sure you get your money back? Surely then he/they must be very WILLING to accept Congress' recommendation very QUICKLY and EFFECTIVELY so that we can be in the business of meeting the very DIRE need of this country. I particularly like the position of freezing foreclosures and renegotiating loans - cos if the big guys get the bailout ... then this would be the common mans bailout. Because for every foreclosure, is a neighborhood gone bad, property taxes falling, cities losing money, areas going in true recession and local economic downturn - it spirals equally. It is just a matter of scale. I don't believe what is being asked by congress is outlandish, and I am sure the BANKERS of WALLSTREET appreciate this very much and the powers that be will agree to COMMON SENSE accounting and banking principles that on the whole have shown to be both prudent and LESS RISKY!

Canuck.... thank you! This is what I've been trying to tell people. Yup... we've got some real dumb *sses down here. I suppose people think it's one big cartoon, but it ISN'T.

Republicans don't CARE about the rest of the world. They don't even care about their fellow Americans, dude. They don't care that the whole world is laughing at us, laughing at that ridiculous lying Palin woman and her ridiculous backwoods family.

The middle class is bleeding to death financially but the Republicans don't care. They ARE racist, there is no other explanation. I am so embarrassed to be an American sometimes.

However, I don't think McCain is going to win. I think our young voters, age 18 and up, will rise up and get rid of McCain. The younger generation aren't as racist as their parents and grandparents, thank GOD.

"McBush's solution to the unemployment consequences of deregulation is to cut government spending. More people will become unemployed, wages will decline, small businesses closures will increase, and the financial base will continue to erode."

I too have been mystified at why McCain continues to claim that cutting earmarks will help the economy.

While one can make the ideological point that government should spend less money on any number of things across the board, reducing spending of any kind is going to have a diminimiss effect on the economy.

McCain (or his advisers) seem to think that blasting away at Obama with charges that in many cases one has to look hard at for even a tangential relationship to the Democrat, and calling for heads to roll (Chris Cox) constitutes an economic plan.

George Will rightly points out that McCain has in some respects, lost his head.

Beyond that, how much of an indicator is the campaign McCain is running, for the type of administration he'd run if he wins.

A sequestered ideologue for a VP, a constant attack on the press any time the media dares critique, and a reliance on croynism over experience and qualifications......where have we seen this script before ?

You're right, complaining doesn't really solve anything. We as the people of this nation need to start standing up for ourselves. We've been walked over by our own government for so long that it's become second nature. Not long ago people would have stood up to their government, as is our constitutional right. People have become so reliant on everyone else to do things for them that they've forgotten the fundamentals of the government. It was created Of the People, By the People, and FOR the People.

If the bankers couldn't put a price on their junk all year, and criminally sold auction swaps to state pension funds than how can we be so tolerant of our politicians who are gambling our future on Hank "Goldman Sachs" Paulson's plan?

Hank is the guy who took this job in order to get a $75 million dollar tax credit when he left private banking as GS CEO.

Ah what's the use of complaining? They're gonna do what they're gonna do and I ain't voting anymore. I thought Obama could move things incrementally but I see that the game in DC is too much for anyone to change it in the slightest regardless of intentions.

McBush's solution to the unemployment consequences of deregulation is to cut government spending. More people will become unemployed, wages will decline, small businesses closures will increase, and the financial base will continue to erode. Does McBush realize that the Laffer Curve was a failure. Even President Reagan realized this. Reagan took steps to correct the implementation, and we still had a recession. John McCain should not be blamed for his limited knowledge of economics. After all, he went to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, where the education in economics is focused upon procurement at the expense of taxpayers. It is not Harvard.

Am I the only one who noticed Treasury Secretary Paulson parroting McCain's Talking Point of the Week on Meet the Press yesterday? Hard working Americans are the 'fundamentals of the economy' blah blah blah. In the midst of such a catastrophic economic failure, he used his precious airtime to calm America's nerves to stump for a presidential candidate? Where's the outrage? Why did Brokaw just sit there and let him do that?

Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.

Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.

Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.

Th financial crisis is just another in the growing list that is a result of policies designed to win elections rather than manage.

Cutting revenue without managing expense is the root cause. Allowing the private sector to conduct business however they want as long as they provide "cash" to all, was the root cause. Looking the other way as risky loans were provided that fueled growth and expecting that to continue was irresponsible.

The current crisis was avoidable but that would have cost votes and telling the american people that you can't have it all without controls or paying a higher price.

The advocates of de-regulation have been proven wrong.

Those who are now preaching that the Democratics will raise your tax's are frankly too stupid to understand that the $800 billion for the war and the now $700 billion for the bailout just raised their tax's. The payment for those failures of government will be from the tax payers.

Senator Mc Cain either no longer has the courage of his convictions to state the problem, and his selection of Governor Palin is proof that getting elected by standing for nothing other than being elected is all that maters to him

I would like more of the same...secret meetings with millionaire con artists overseas...McGoo
should know better that you can't party overseas with criminals and not get noticed...can we trust this man with our financial future?

I would like more of the same...secret meetings with millionaire con artists overseas...McGoo
should know better that you can't party overseas with criminals and not get noticed...can we trust this man with our financial future?

“The potential rise of power of the Taliban does not alarm Rohrabacher,” the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs noted that year, because the congressman believes the “Taliban could provide stability in an area where chaos was creating a real threat to the U.S.” Rohrabacher also claimed that the Taliban are “not terrorists or revolutionaries,” that liberal-media accounts of the Taliban’s human-rights abuses were “nonsense,” and that the Taliban would bring about a “disciplined, moral society” that did not harbor terrorists and would pose no threat to the United States.

I just want a new president and get this thing over with. If the new president sucks i blame it on him.For if he said it is going to better, and he just makes worse, well i don't know what i'm going to do.

Monday, September 15, 2008
The Cynicism of John McCain and his VP Choice

If you read Jeffrey Goldberg's excellent piece on McCain in the new Atlantic, one fact stands out clearly. McCain's stance on the war is inviolate--it involves what for him are principles of honor that stretch back immediately and directly to his own experiences in the Vietnam war, and to those of his father in World War II. Just one example of many in the first-rate article:

"I told Swindle [a cellmate and friend of McCain's] that McCain had argued to me that he doesn’t think about Vietnam overly much when he thinks about the wars of today.

“'Bulls--t,' Swindle said. 'He’ll say Vietnam didn’t affect him, that he doesn’t think about it, that he’s aloof from it. But I see it. It’s there.'”

This is the issue on which McCain is inflexible, certain, fully invested, passionate.

It is equally clear that as a result, he views all other issues as malleable, political issues--stances that can be easily taken, and easily changed, tactically-- in order to win a campaign and thus deal with the issue that, to him, matters.

This is utterly clear in his choice of Palin, where his Vietnam-and-since cynicism about political necessities is manifest--one of feeding the bread and circuses desire of the electorate, giving them, so easily fooled, as they were so easily fooled by the media in Vietnam, what they need, in order to be able to deal with the important issue.

The choice of a remarkably unqualified Vice Presidential choice is simply a political necessity. The attitude towards the public, and the media, in this choice, as in many of the public representations and statements of his campaign, is one of an extraordinary, world-weary, cynicism: Feed the beast with whatever fantasies and half-truths it takes. The fundamentals of the economy are sound. We'll take care of it later.

Goldberg:

"In my conversations with McCain, however, he never appeared greatly troubled by his shifts and reversals. It’s not difficult to understand why: tax policy, or health care, or even off-shore oil drilling are for him all matters of mere politics, and politics calls for ideological plasticity. It is only in the realm of national defense, and of American honor—two notions that for McCain are thoroughly entwined—that he becomes truly unbending."

This is no doubt rooted in McCain's eternal certainties, drummed in by three generations of such certainty. And there is no doubt strength and decency--as well as these "family values"--that drive this commitment to an ideological core.

The question is this: Do we need another president with such a core of ideological inflexibility, rigidity and unwillingness for self-reflection, linked to a long past conflict--and who is willing to resort to half-truths, deceptions, and distortions in its service?

Just your average hockey mom? Okay well, let me see… Canadian News has reported that she had ONE child who played hockey for ONE year. They also reported that the Alaskan Hockey Association is outraged over Palin’s claims.

She can call herself the “Average Hockey Mom” but then there are all those other ‘Alaskan Hockey Moms’ who are complaining that during that ONE year, she had three turns to provide juice for the kids and failed on all three occasions to provide it, though she had a schedule and knew well in advance when her turns would come up. Each time she borrowed from them to provide it and she was the only mom who couldn’t manage to perform that one simple task!

And you know what? After having been a ‘Baseball Mom’ who coached her own son for thirteen years and other kids for a total of thirty-seven years and a ‘football mom’ who almost never missed one her son’s games, I know a fraud and a liar when I see one. All of the “hockey moms” paraded in front of news cameras to sell her without informing them of these trivial little facts, would definitely agree, but then what’s one little deception when we’ve been sold so many big and disastrous ones?

Our mainstream “so called news media” have been camped out in Alaska full time for weeks but apparently missed this minutia, you know, …like they missed the fact that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, that Saddam Hussein, while not a nice person, was completely contained and couldn’t have lifted a fly swatter in the air without the world knowing about it, that he didn’t buy aluminum tubes from Niger, that he didn’t attack the United States of America on September 11’th, that he was never aligned with Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda or the Taliban and that the entire world had warned the United States from as far back as 1991 that removing him from power would create an inevitable power vacuum, civil war and exactly the mess with Iran and the rest of the America hates that now exists today.

They of course, opted for the role of pitchmen and cheerleaders for the liars and criminals in this administration. Immediately thereafter they imposed a blackout on all honest, objective or factual news reporting, choosing instead, to deliver a steady diet of bias, lies and propaganda to the American people. Oh, and did I mention that they acted as road-blockers, abettors and accomplices for every criminal, treasonous and devious act committed by the Bush Administration? Okay, well, we certainly have the DVD’s to prove that, don’t we?

As for Palin’s bridge to nowhere, I guess they also missed that ongoing investigation into all the missing money that disappeared while under her direct control. You know… all that money that still can’t be found or accounted for. Maybe that’s because it’s still an ongoing investigation and they are prohibited from talking about it. ….But if you believe that, I’ve really got a great bridge to sell you! Real Estate prices being what they are, I can afford to give you a really great deal on it!

What will it take for America to realize that trickle-down economics is a joke. How many deficits must the Democrats deal with before Republicans finally figure it out? In eight years, we went from a surplus to a HISTORIC deficit. National defense? Right. Is this where I inconveniently point out that OBL is still running around the desert? All of the Republicans' pseudo-tough talk hasn't made a difference. And now, not only will future generations be dealing with social security, deficits, a decline in educational standards ... but they will be dealing with the eventual fallout from the Iraq War. Of course, you might as well add Iran to the list if McCain has his way. He apparently thinks it's funny to joke around about bombing other countries. I wonder why some countries don't like the US! Oh, because of our freedoms - I forgot. Except when was the last time they attacked Canada. Right. McCain's campaign might as well be a lobbyist firm. Yes, he is working ... working really hard for the average American, except when he votes against higher education, wage increases, and insurance. Oh, the life McCain must have with all those nine houses. I wonder how his first wife feels about him dumping her for a non-crippled, young blondie with a ton of cash? Values. Family values. Country first, except when it comes to the economy, education, workers, and just about everything else. What a fraud this guy is, just like Bush was ... and has remained to be, and will go down as one of the worst presidents ever. Yes, vote with Bush on almost everything, Mr. McCain. And then spend the rest of your campaign distancing yourself from him. FRAUD.

There's absolutely no way I'm buying what you're selling Lars. I've heard these talking points from absolute morons too many times to consider it. You may be intelligent, but the argument is flawed. No offense....

I hope we can all remember that George Bush is just the front man for a whole gang of people who picked him as their figurehead, gave him speeches and photo ops to perform, opened the gates in the decaying walls of decency and common sense that sort of protected what was left of the social contract, brought the Trojan Horse of “neo-conservatism” inside, and helped the smarmy few do what they have done for the last eight years. So George can say, like John Belushi to Carrie Fisher in “Blues Brothers,” down there in the tunnel, after he left her at the altar for the fifth time, “It’s not my fault!”

And let’s remember that these folks, who some of us call “incompetent,” have actually done a VERY competent job of transferring trillions of dollars from public pockets into private ones. Even the Iraq war reflects an enormous, cynical dump of this country’s wealth into the insatiable military-industrial maw and into an unaudited black hole – recall the billions in $100 bills packed and loaded on pallets, delivered by U.S. military transport aircraft, set on loading docks and just picked up and driven away in bulk by nobody-seems-to-know-who. And as one small example, check the deployment of the V-22 “Osprey,” supposedly intended to replace the CH-46 and CH-53 in moving Marines into combat, that is “in Iraq” to justify the hundreds of billions it costs but not allowed, of course, to fly in any area where it might do the mission it was peddled for.

The scope of the theft and fraud is so large that it boggles my poor mind, at least – Teapot Dome and everything that’s gone before is just pickpocket chump change. And now the Masters of the Universe tell us we have to bail THEM out, sounding just like the kid who murdered his parents and then demanded clemency because he was an orphan.

And let's also remember that if McCain becomes the next figurehead, there will be no grand housecleaning -- his chosen Dust-Bunny will see to that. So we will have more years of the same gang killing us slowly that we have now.

Of such conditions do revolutions come. Maybe it’s a good thing that the NRA has ensured a heavily-armed citizenry after all, though I would bet that most folks with weapons of any consequence think the powers that be are doing a fine job. And of course the military, and even Blackwater, still outguns all of us.

By the way, has anyone seen Dick Cheney lately? Why does it feel like the spring of 1933 in the Weimar Republic days of Germany? Everybody ready for a new kind of “nationalization” and “mobilization?”

Me like palin hottie. She build bridge to nobody. Ha ha. She kill mooses. She be good president when mccain croak. We need hottie with glasses with no frames cause it makes her even more hot. She should win miss alaska cause she hot. She make fun of democracy party. Ha ha. republikans will win with our great hottie. we will win all wars with such hotness. Russia is near Alaska our hottie will get them good with her moose gun. she is good choice for president and hot.

"The American economy is the envy of the world, and we need to keep it that way" "I'm not an economist" "The fundamentals of our economy are strong" George W Bush - Aug 9, 2007

"The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should" John McCain - Dec 17. 2007
"Our economy, I think, still the fundamentals of our economy are strong" - John McCain - Sep 15. 2008

Does anyone see a pattern here? Are 50% of the American people really stupid enough to still support either of these two clueless idiots?

America wake up, The world has changed. If you think globalization will stop because ObAMA will keep jobs in the US then you are really in need of a reality check. As a fellow educated blackman, Barrack Obama has not convinced me, forget the fancy words and hollywood personality friends and elitist policy those things do not factor into anything when it comes to this country.
Labor cost, poor educational standards excessive union control forced manfacturers to look for cheap labor abraod. Secondly 70% of American Businesses are small business? So this means that when Obama tax policy takes money from them and redistribute. they go out of business and move out of the country, then middle class who are employed by companies lose ultimately. there is nothing like free money there is alway a reaction for every consequences. I probably think mexico and latin america will benefit from Obama tax policy because they will keep labor cost low attracting businesses and former small business. Secondly, the educational system sucks funding for education has increased so it is not a probelm of money rather it is a probelm of management of these resources and using these resources wisely. What is the use of throwing money into a flawed system. We need to get rid of the teacher unions and placed control of the choice of education to the parents. Well, i know i might be attacked or even called conservative but i calmly ask everybody to think; whoever is president will need to bring the country together. I don't think Obama could bring the country together. example, the resentment of hillary supporters. If he could not unite his party then what of the rest america. I personally think there is fundamental probelm in washingston. Mccain Obama biden are all creature cut from same the cloth. I am personally looking beyond the politics and worried that this country greatness is behind us rather than forward choices like Obama(inexperience, no record of bipartianship) Biden and McCain records of failed policies and ineffective running of the government between them. What are our choices yet we fight each other. I tell you what i want from our leaders. We want Leaders who are going to Honest with us. The Truth hurts but at least you know. We need leaders who put the people first and create opportunities for advancement not through welfare but by providing sound economic policies that empowers our talented population. We need fiscal and proactive leaders who are able to adapt changing situation as there occur. If i can find those three qualities in either of them. I believe America has a chance. People remember they need our votes just as these politicans demand money from the lobbyist we must demand the changes from the government we see fit. we must unite for America and demand those changes and not be distraced by party politics do we put party politics over the fate of the country or personality. briefly Remember these words, If America falls, then the world suffer

Not only they are against drilling, Democrats are also against nuclear power. These people complain too much but does not think much. They are against anything except aborting babies. They never thought that having sex makes them pregnant. What a weird set of people.

It was a democrat-turned republican (Phil Gramm) who sponsored the The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 and it was a democrat president Bill Clinton who signed it into law. I think it is because of that law why the price of oil can be dictated by speculators including the price of many goods like rice.

I presume majority of these speculative stock traders are Dems. One should make a survey what's the political affiliations of all those Bear Stern and Lehman Bros employees. They break everything and then blame it on the Republicans.

Senator Obama, if you're listening, make sure you see that film before you debate Captain McCain. Stick to your fundamentals, let him tell his story. It's already so convoluted I can't tell who's on first, or even how many bases there are. I think in the end, even some of the most hard core Republicans will realize the risk at the top of the ticket is even worse than the number two.

In a few weeks we will make a choice that will decide our future.
This time the stakes are much higher then most people could imagine
I would like to point out some things you may already know in a new way.

I follow an economist named Bob Proctor who has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
He perfectly predicted the current real estate market meltdown, and the picture he paints about what will happen in the next couple years
is terrifying. He thinks it could get worse then the great depression.
Banks in the US are going under one after the other. Country wide the largest mortgage bank in the world, Bear Stearns, Lehman brothers, and Merrill Lynch which are 3 out of the top five Wall Street firms, and now Fanny and Freddy which hold 50 percent of the home loans in the United States.
The government took them over because they are essentially bankrupt.
If they didn't the entire financially system would virtually shut down, the stock market would crash and we would suffer beyond what any of us have seen before.
The future of these companies will fall into the hands of our next president and all of our economic future depends on them reorganizing these companies right.
Lehman, Merrill Lynch, and Bear Sterns have survived for over 150 years and survived even the great depression. They are important because they’re the biggest engines of growth in America and are connected to everything, not to mention AIG the largest insurance company in the world.
Never in our lives have so many vital companies gone under in a 4 week period.
Already one out of 10 Americans is somewhere in the foreclosure process.
During the last 8 years the average person saw there salary drop instead
Of increase. These are all facts no one will argue with. The truth is we are only in the start of the worst economy we have seen in our generation and a very real possibility of another depression. Bush just like McCain doesn't understand the economy, that’s not just my opinion it’s his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it
He does not understand exactly what is broken. It’s no surprise that he doesn’t. The people that make up these securities use complex math models very few people understand. Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us. Banks took huge risks and now we have spent 800 billion to bail them out that’s about 2000 to 3000 for every family in the U.S. we are the ones that are suffering and we have every right to hold the administration and Wall Street accountable since we are paying for it. It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. The same things Bush and McCain Have done for the last 8 years created this mess and can h only make it much worse.
If you do what you have always done then you will do get what you have always
90 percent of the time they have voted the same. So why are the polls even close then? The chairman of McCain’s campaign recently said that people don't vote on issues they vote on a personality composite which means. He is trying to sell personality instead of results.
He believes you can be sold into voting against your own best interest with personality.
McCain admits in the year 2008 he cannot use a computer even for something easy like email which any 10 year old can do. In this mess that should pretty much disqualify him right there
We are not bulletproof America it time to wake up and hold these people accountable. Lets stand up and fight for our country now while it will still make a difference Lets elect Obama Biden 08.

Posted by: ObamaBidenNOW | September 18, 2008 7:43 PM

*************************

To be honest with ya, I'm glad Lehman, Merrill, Bear, went under. All they do is rip-off the little guy to feed the greed of the rich. And if you look into the great depression you'll find that their the ones that caused it. Their use of the media to swing the markets should be illegal. This whole system is corrupt as hell. I called up the SEC last month and fought with them for over an hour about Cox putting out a press release that calls for a temporary ban on naked short selling. What the hell is he doing calling for a temp. ban on something that's illegal. He's another one put in there by George stinking Bush to rip us off. I hope they burn in hell for what they've done. Bush has broken every law we live by, and he should be tried for treason.

Its a testament to the mental toughness of John Mccain that he is able lie so effectively at his advanced age.
However,I worry that he will lose track of who he is with his constant shape shifting on the issues.
Who will mccain be when he walks into the debate? Who knows.
Who will he be when he walks out?
The Loser.

The central character was an aging Naval commander, Captain Queeg. He was a war hero, but had been relegated to rear-guard duty, desperately trying to hang on to the glory days of his youth. The problem was he had lost his nerve, and was in the process of losing his mind. He felt threatened by his most competent officers, and spent most of his time trying uncover their plots against him.

He had all sorts of little nervous ticks: a creepy smile that he would flash every now and then, and he carried around these two little steel ball-bearings that he would click together whenever his daemons threatened to overwhelm him. One night, during a training exercise, a storm came up, his ship was in danger of sinking, and he panicked. At a critical moment, his first officer relieved him of command and brought the ship safely in to port.

It was a great story, with a happy ending. Mitt Romney, where are you now that we really need you...

Obama seems too thoughtful to be President. I would rather have someone that flies where he is ordered not to fly in SE Asia, to show he is a maverick, even if it gets him shot down and his comrades killed. It's a great way to get sympathy. We'll get the World's sympathy, if we elect such a maverick. Ah yes, sympathy...the New American Way!

This race is no where near tight. Everyone knows that the corporate media is in bed with McCain, and every time he gets slammed for opening his big mouth his poll numbers go up. They've been doing it for months. Their polls don't even include cell phone users, which is Obama's largest base. All their trying to do is make McCain seem competitive. And if that don't work, there gonna steal the election with their rigged voting machines. Bush and his cronies have access to the phone companies and can rig anything they want.

In a few weeks we will make a choice that will decide our future.
This time the stakes are much higher then most people could imagine
I would like to point out some things you may already know in a new way.

I follow an economist named Bob Proctor who has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
He perfectly predicted the current real estate market meltdown, and the picture he paints about what will happen in the next couple years
is terrifying. He thinks it could get worse then the great depression.
Banks in the US are going under one after the other. Country wide the largest mortgage bank in the world, Bear Stearns, Lehman brothers, and Merrill Lynch which are 3 out of the top five Wall Street firms, and now Fanny and Freddy which hold 50 percent of the home loans in the United States.
The government took them over because they are essentially bankrupt.
If they didn't the entire financially system would virtually shut down, the stock market would crash and we would suffer beyond what any of us have seen before.
The future of these companies will fall into the hands of our next president and all of our economic future depends on them reorganizing these companies right.
Lehman, Merrill Lynch, and Bear Sterns have survived for over 150 years and survived even the great depression. They are important because they’re the biggest engines of growth in America and are connected to everything, not to mention AIG the largest insurance company in the world.
Never in our lives have so many vital companies gone under in a 4 week period.
Already one out of 10 Americans is somewhere in the foreclosure process.
During the last 8 years the average person saw there salary drop instead
Of increase. These are all facts no one will argue with. The truth is we are only in the start of the worst economy we have seen in our generation and a very real possibility of another depression. Bush just like McCain doesn't understand the economy, that’s not just my opinion it’s his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it
He does not understand exactly what is broken. It’s no surprise that he doesn’t. The people that make up these securities use complex math models very few people understand. Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us. Banks took huge risks and now we have spent 800 billion to bail them out that’s about 2000 to 3000 for every family in the U.S. we are the ones that are suffering and we have every right to hold the administration and Wall Street accountable since we are paying for it. It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. The same things Bush and McCain Have done for the last 8 years created this mess and can h only make it much worse.
If you do what you have always done then you will do get what you have always
90 percent of the time they have voted the same. So why are the polls even close then? The chairman of McCain’s campaign recently said that people don't vote on issues they vote on a personality composite which means. He is trying to sell personality instead of results.
He believes you can be sold into voting against your own best interest with personality.
McCain admits in the year 2008 he cannot use a computer even for something easy like email which any 10 year old can do. In this mess that should pretty much disqualify him right there
We are not bulletproof America it time to wake up and hold these people accountable. Lets stand up and fight for our country now while it will still make a difference Lets elect Obama Biden 08.

Obama is right; McCain is out of touch with reality arround us and that is not a person we want to be our president. We need somebody who is in our shoes and who feels our troubles and pains. I have no idea what exactly is McCain's plan for economy but so far what he has I understand, but, the help is not even in sight. McCain sems he is afraid to take more money from wealthy incomes and take less from low incomes and America is mostly low incomes. Over 80% of people don't make over $250,000 and McCain wants those people to pay same amount of taxes as everybody else in middle class. For them taxes are really nothing, to middle class, is life savings, and that is what McCain don't understand and can not comprehend in his head or all those lobyists don't let him go against rich and wealthy.

I don't think they are....but lets face it, the states with the worst education systems in the country are all in the southern states. Therefore, it it not suprise that the people vote for McCain and Palin...it's because if you lack intellectual curiousity, you are easily manipulated. And when someone with any sort of normal intellegence tries to rationalize with the uneducated, it is percieved as being "snobish" or "uppity".

In truth, we have brought the present financial meltdown upon ourselves and so deserve what we are getting. Neither McCain nor Obama will talk about this, but our economic model is untenable. Rather than balance the budget and pay off the $10 trillion national debt, we simply "grow the the economy." Rather than shed the fat, we just build more muscle. But there is a limit to how much muscle we can build, even with steroids. What we need, and what neither candidate can provide, is economic sustainability. The terrorists must be happy. We played into their hands by over-reacting to 9/11, invading Iraq, and spending well beyond our means. We may have put them in the morgue, but they have put us in the hospital.

Thr mid west and southerner republicans are a sadistic bunch no? They lose their jobs, children to war, pay the highest taxes, and have to spend the most on fuel, and they continue to cheer for McCain and Palin.

While (as I posted below) McCain voted for the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, the repeal of which was probably what caused this crisis, Joe Biden voted against it. Turns out Biden was right, and McCain and other proponents of deregulation were catastrophically wrong. Now McCain is trying to flip-flop on this issue, but the Republicans have lost all credibility as they continue to cling to their failed economic theories.

These ideologues have been discredited, and it's time we got our head out of the utopian "free market" clouds and faced some hard economic facts. Reasonable regulation and oversight of capital markets is crucial for the functioning of the capitalist system. The ultimate result of deregulation and Laissez Faire is, ironically, tantamount to Communism, as the government is forced to take over core components of the economy to keep it from collpasing completely.

In short, McCain and the Republicans got us into this mess. Obama and the Democrats are the best hope we have of getting out of it!

Why all Americans aren't getting stock certificates from the companies WE are bailing out? And, are these bailouts actually constitutional?

Why the people in charge of these failing companies aren't being taken to task, and why they are still getting HUGE pay checks?

Why the American people can't see that neither Democrat nor Republican is the answer and that it's way past the time for an independent candidate, and WHY those indie candidates aren't even ALLOWED in the debates? That seems very rigged to me.

Why the American people think a change towards socialism is a good thing? I want empowerment to better my life through hard work and not through hand outs. The SBA and similar programs are good things. Redistribution of wealth is a bad, communist thing.

Why the American people don't think the founding fathers are spinning in their graves?

Why the American people don't get off of their respective butts and harass their representatives in Washington on a daily basis and either ask them what the heck they're doing with their tax dollars?

Watch the 1939 movie Mr Smith goes to Washington. 70 years ago the people knew these fat cats in DC were mucking up the works. Do you honestly believe it's gotten better?

Throw them ALL out, let US put the question of term limits for Congress and Senate on the ballot and that might be a good start. Send a message. Look up 1992 and Ross Perot. I can safely state without a doubt I'm not the only one who's had enough.

McCain and Palin both came out against the bailouts initially, but I guess they got the word from Bush to cool it, because they each flip-flopped on the issue at about the same time.
Sterling Greenwood
Aspen Free Press

As for the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, it was based on a plan by the Bush administration (see NYT http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D6123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print ) and was opposed by Democrats for good reason -- it would have taken control of Fannie and Freddie away from Congress and put them under the Secretary of the Treasury, a member of the President's cabinet. This was just an opportunistic power grab by the Bush administration, trying to overextend executive power once again, not an attempt at genuine reform.

Senator OBAMA has sold me and I have had the great pleasure of meeting him personally three times now. He displays a vast intellect and on the subject of the economy is getting advice from Warren Buffet, Robert Reich, and Paul Volker. He is smart enough to surround himself with other great minds and I am certain he will put down some good common sense solutions to the messes the Republicans will leave us with when the clueless George W. actually leaves in January of 2009. They broke it so why should we let them fix anything. A 290 billion dollar surplus turned into a 500 billion dollar deficit in eight(8) years. Eight is Enough indeed. Vote hope not the Republican manufactured fear. Vote Obama in 2008!

I can't wait for this election to be over. Both Dem's and Repub's making total fools of themselves. Both candidates saying the same thing we have heard for the past thirty years. Wake up America...it is politics....say anything to get you elected and then the real story begins. I am a lifelong Dem!!!! and PROUD of it. But I am sorry Obama has not sold me yet!!!! Twice this week Obama supporters came to my house and each time I asked why do you like him so much??? They both said tax cuts and foriegn Policy. Well how are we going to pay for these tax cuts and Obama's foriegn policy is no different than any other president except for "W". So whats new and exciting about Obama...I don't see it!!! To me he is like any other slick talking politician saying what we want to hear and no clue how to get there.

I wonder if it was coincidence that McCain's first two very specific proposals (firing Chris Cox & creating a 'mortgage and financial institutions trust') were the same two that Ben Stein articulated last night on Larry King, after a blistering assessment of the Bush administration's oversight failures. I have no doubt that Ben Stein understands the origins of the mortgage crisis and what wasn't done about it that allowed it to reach this point. But I don't believe McCain has a clue, and this smacks of plagiarism and posturing to me. How does a credible candidate for President go from "I'm going to appoint a commission to study the matter..." one day, to "I'm firing Chris Cox..." the next? (Probably the same way he selected his running mate.)

Stein also had harsh criticism of "whoever they have giving him (McCain) advice". Stein said he would like to give McCain a crash course in economics by sequestering him with Warren Buffet for a day or so, but that wasn't possible since Buffet is supporting Obama.

I also looked into McCain's co-sponsorship of a bill in 2005 which would have overhauled the oversight structure for Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. In his brief endorsement of the Bill (which I believe was never voted on), he described very accurately some of the conflicts of interest and cooking of books which created a dangerous liability for taxpayers:
(http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-190)
(http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=109-s20060525-16&bill=s109-190)

I'm no expert, but as I read this record, the bill was reported out by the Senate Banking committee favorably July 28, 2005, when the Republicans were still in control of Congress, but never voted on (Why?). It was re-submitted in 2006, apparently in an attempt to embarrass the Dems and give the appearance that they were the ones opposing more regulation of F&F. (Don't know, were they?)

My question is: if McCain is so outraged now by all of this, why did he do so little about it in 2005 when the R's were in the majority? If he's the Maverick who challenges his own party, and he knew there was a crisis brewing in the mortgage industry, why didn't he make more noise publicly about it than simply entering a statement into the Congressional record?

I've been a voting Republican since 1971, and I always thought McCain was the best our party had to offer. The things he's revealed about himself and his character in particular during these last 9 months are appalling to me, and I'm supporting Obama (so that's my bias). But I think there are some issues of fact here that bear investigation.

Ouside of their fellow NeoMarxists, no one is buying into the Bush-McCain old Soviet style of government or economics. These two leaders of NeoMarxism, the proponents of fuzzy minded one worldliness, "free trade", and other globalization schemes led us to the current mess. Their socialism has indebted us for trillions dollars in debt that no one has the slightest idea of how we will repay. Their lax policies have resulted in enormous bloated corporations, that, when they fail, and all corporations eventually fail, will take down the government. Theodore Roosevelt signed into law the Sherman AntiTrust Act to counter rpecisely this sort orf danger. He did so in the aftermath of the devistating depression of the 1890's. These fools, instead of reading history and paying heed to past mistakes, allowed their outright greed, their lack of patriotism, their devotion to reconstituted Leninism, to override common sense and landed us in the present cesspool. No conservative will vote for McCain. No genuine patriot will even think of voting for McCain. Only a few semi-literate Fox News fanatics will even listen to them any longer. They are a national disgrace and deserve prison more than elected office.

Palin rants and raves about going to Washington to tear the place up in her quest to right all the wrongs there.

Hmmmm....never worked inside the Beltway. Never worked in the Congress. Threatens the establishment and the power brokers from afar with ending their careers and livelihood. Young, naieve and inexperienced.

This reminds me of the scene in "The Holy Grail" when they march up to slay the little bunny rabbit.

freejung wrote:
"...Do not try to put that at the feet of Democrats, take responsibility and admit that your theory is wrong!"

The thing about psychopathic disorders is that afflicted individuals never, ever see problems as their own, even ones that they blatantly cause. They also tend to justify their actions with no regard to truth or truth twisting. I am certain that a general Emotional IQ (EIQ) survey would reveal that such affected individuals tend to gravitate to the Republican Party. Truly, such EIQ screening should be mandatory in all elected positions, and private firms with HR departments ignorant to EIQ would do well to screen their applicants, especially applicants for senior management positions.

From FOXNEWS, always fair and balanced:
"The GOP ticket touched down at an airplane hanger here to cheers, but as soon as Sarah Palin took the stage she forgot which Rapids she was actually visiting, “Thank you so much Iowa it is so good to be here in Grand Rapids!”

Palin did just travel from Grand Rapids, Michigan this morning perhaps causing the confusion."
*****************
Got brains, Palin? Ready to deal with the the world's largest economy? Maybe your and Cindy's new friend who just abandoned Hillary can roll the Bunco dice and all will be well . . .

To those trying to blame Democrats in Congress for this debacle -- that turns out not to be the case.

First, Democrats have not been able to do anything for the last two years due to a record number of Republican filibusters in the Senate.

Second, this crisis is the direct result of deregulation promoted by Republicans for decades. It's not just that banks made loans to people who couldn't repay them, it is that those loans were then repackaged into securities and traded way beyond their real value. This would never have been allowed before deregulation. We are seeing the failure of deregulation and Laissez Faire capitalism, the core Republican economic positions.

Of course Capitalism works better than Communisim, but pure, unregulated Capitalism with no rules or oversight or dampening effects always eats itself. We've seen it many times before and we are seeing it again. Do not try to put that at the feet of Democrats, take responsibility and admit that your theory is wrong!

Finally, for those advocating Republicans as the champions of small businesses and working people, whereas Democrats are supposedly the tools of big business -- have you been paying attention at all? Sure, both parties are heavily influenced by big corporations, but we have never seen an administration so subsurvient to big buisness as this one! As for the candidates, Obama proposes to close loopholes which encourage big corporations to ship our jobs overseas, whereas McCain proposes to give them massive tax breaks.

I guess it never occurred to post what the leading economists have to say...which is they agree with McCain...in that the fundamentals of our economy are strong.

So instead you post partisan diatribe as what...proof that Obama is right in his slurs? What's next? Quoting the NYT's?

The financial sector is whacked because existing oversight was lax. Most didn't care as their home's value was dramatically increasing...and for many, doubling and tripling their net worth as a result.

Obama in is typical disingenuous way is now trying to make out like McCain is clueless, yet it was McCain and three other senators that cosponsored a bill back in 2005 to address the impending issue, and in 2006 it was a democratic led senate that intentionally ignored the bill and let it die.

McCain warned the senate at that time, even pleaded with them...

"If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole." John McCain 5/26/06

He was right and where was Obama? He, like others, were too busy taking money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to enact McCain's desired reform bill.

I don't expect Obama supporters to actually research anything...but the Washington Post knows about the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005...and McCain's statement is a matter of the senate record...yet they let Obama continue to slur McCain when McCain could have not been more insightful if he had a crystal ball.

I swear the WP and NYT's are in a race to the bottom...lacking in intellectual honesty.

McCain is just the new face of the republican party, which has sold out to the
God of Greed of Wall street, and the God of a war started because of ignorance and lies.

And now the chickens have come home to roost. We may face a replay of something like 1929. The superwealthy with their golden parachutes and 50 million $$ deals have already made their killing. But you and I, the ordinary people, will pay for this monstrous mess, either for generations, via taxes, or inflation.

And meanwhile the superwealthy continue to ship the middle class good jobs overseas, or employe illegal aliens at under minimum wage. And the ordinary people lose their homes.

And these are the same people who wanted to put our parents social security money into the stock market.

The issue in front of this country goes beyond economics. It is to destroy - yes destroy the republican party, which has sold out this whole nation to those who worship at the alter of the golden idol, their god of greed.

Too good -from cnn.com I thought Palin said Obama hasn't passed any legislation?

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (CNN) – Sarah Palin likes to tell voters around the country about how she “put the government checkbook online” in Alaska. On Thursday, Palin suggested she would take that same proposal to Washington.

“We’re going to do a few new things also,” she said at a rally in Cedar Rapids. “For instance, as Alaska’s governor, I put the government’s checkbook online so that people can see where their money’s going. We’ll bring that kind of transparency, that responsibility, and accountability back. We’re going to bring that back to D.C.”

There’s just one problem with proposing to put the federal checkbook online – somebody’s already done it. His name is Barack Obama.

In 2006 and 2007, Obama teamed up with Republican Sen. Tom Coburn to pass the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, also known as “Google for Government.” The act created a free, searchable web site – USASpending.gov — that discloses to the public all federal grants, contracts, loans and insurance payments.

If Bush is guilty of killing the economy, Congress gets the same if not MORE of the blame. They can stop him -they chose not to. So if I blame anyone, it's the ones who COULD HAVE done something but chose to do nothing but sit and whine. Yeah...real helpful.

I do not believe the polls that show Obama has a "slight" lead. This election will be a landslide victory. The press is fabricating a close election to bring out voters. If Obama actually had a 10 point lead in the election its possible many of his supporters might not show up at the polls, benefiting McCain.

What am I missing here? The Replubicans have squandered eight years in the White House:

1. Our nation went to a senseless, devestating and very expensive war;
2. Our economy is a mess;
3. Billions of dollars have been invested in middle east infrastructure, not our own;
4. We went from a budget surplus, to a deficit;
5. The size of government has grown under a conservative Presidency;
6. We have lost our respect in the world standing.

Need anyone say more?

How is it possible that anyone could elect a Republican in this election?

Conducting state business like the CIA, Palin required her employees to use personal emails to avoid normal audit procedures in the state of Alaska. A hacker published some of her yahoo emails and they include state business that was required to be done on state email system. Her avoidance of state audits is illegal. To use personal email to avoid audits, is illegal, in and of itself.
She is a criminal and she made her employees act as criminals too.

VOTE NO to Palin's hidden agendas. Her claim to open government is now proved for all time, to have been mere false propaganda.
The thing speaks for itself. VOTE NO to fraud by the VP candidate. Fraud, her calumny, is avoiding audits by using personal email instead of the required state email system.

The joke is on me. I forgot to sign in, and my rant against Palin's fraud was published anonymously. Bruce Becker

Freedom of speech bumps up against enormous resistance when one simply asks "Who really runs the U. S. and western world's financial segments?" William Shakespeare knew 400 years ago and gave his representative character in "The Merchant of Venice" the name "Shylock".

Conducting state business like the CIA, Palin required her employees to use personal emails to avoid normal audit procedures in the state of Alaska. A hacker published some of her yahoo emails and they include state business that was required to be done on state email system. Her avoidance of state audits is illegal. To use personal email to avoid audits, is illegal, in and of itself.
She is a criminal and she made her employees act as criminals too.

VOTE NO to Palin's hidden agendas. Her claim to open government is now proved for all time, to have been mere false propaganda.
The thing speaks for itself. VOTE NO to fraud by the VP candidate. Fraud, her calumny, is avoiding audits by using personal email instead of the required state email system.

Freedom of speech bumps up against enormous resistance when one simply asks "Who really runs the U. S. and western world's financial segments?" William Shakespeare knew 400 years ago and gave his representative character in "The Merchant of Venice" the name "Shylock".

Maybe not all democrats celebrating. I thought I detected a lot of non- partisans who had suddenly realized that McCain will say anything, and do anything to get elected. He changed position on Monday about the soundness of the economy in a mere two hours, spinning that by fundamentals he meant people. Maybe he thought we were all fundaments and he just misspoke? Fundamentals means numbers and categories, not human beings. Then on bailouts he shifted position from one day to the next, sating on one day that the government shouldn't do it and then the very next day saying that he agreed with what was something very much akin to the government taking AIG over. Consistent? No. Principled? No. Knowledgeable? No. Sleazy? Yes. Liar? Yes.

It is incredible how gullible some of the American voters are. Our country's economy has been on the downswing for some time but some voters have rose-colored glasses and will never admit that the fault lies with the Republican party, led by Bush and his cronies. Our prestige is at its lowest point world-wide, and yet, some of the populace will be voting for the McCain/Palin ticket. I am not saying that the Democratic party is faultless, but it is clear that if we continue with the Bush and company strategies, I fear for our great nation. Please, America, this is a wake-up call!

John MCain has gone whole-heartedly with the appearances game. Afterall it's won every election in my lifetime. The first televised debate between Mr.Kennedy and Mr. Nixon ...goes without saying. However this time, the fact that he tried to pull off such outlandish lies, the VP choice stunt in the face escalating crises, suddenly questions character that is looking unbecoming. I'm also wondering if the kind of superficial ET style news S. Palin is getting doesn't take the seriousness of it down some notches. It's the 'what is the world coming to' ridiculous kind of sentiment in the face of it all.

When it comes to demeanor, character (Mr. Obama raising from middle class by his smarts to obtain excellence in his education then using it for commendable career moves is a moving story and he acccurately wears who he has cultivated). Mr. Biden also a solid family man. Both are certainly attractive in their physical energetic stance. But most importantly individually and as a team they are the face of reasonability, innovation, intelligence and being real people and serious candidates.

Mr. McCain is having to stand with someone who is all about looks and empty hype to draw the crowds. Does that speak to integrity? One gets the creepy feeling that his has been all about manuvering to dupe people to the point of being downright irresponsible. It's not looking good especially at this time.

The worst thing that could happen right now is panic. Which is exactly what Obama is trying to create. Just like his meeting with Iraqi officials asking them to delay any movement until after the "new administration" is appointed instead of working with a lame duck Bush administration.

Obama is an opportunist and a divider. He is not going to bring unity for America. MCain has actually crossed party lines and worked with Dems on issues and they know it. They are scared and trying to RUIN an honorable man with complete utter distrotions of his record. They know it. People with a brain know it. Hatred is going to ruin this country.

Wow, D. Trump endorsed McCain? A regular ole' workin' class guy like him? He must have done that because he cares so much about all of his employees paying less taxes. I do believe Alan Greenspan gave McCain a NON-endorsement on economic issues, specifically his tax plan. I'm not sure but I think Alan Greenspan might have taken a few correspondence courses in economics, maybe had a few jobs in the field, something of that sort.

When McCain picked Palin as his running mate, the last bit of respect I had for him was gone. If this is the type of choices he will make if elect president, how can we trust the economy to him. McCAIN HAS SOLD HIS SOUL TO THE DEVIL TO WIN THIS ELECTION. AND IF HE IS ELECTED, HE WILL HAVE TO PAY OFF EVERYONE HE OWES - AND THAT WILL NOT BE GOOD FOR ANYONE BUT THE RICH AND POWERFUL!!!

Are we really governed and reported to by idiots? They keep saying that the Obama plan will give tax cuts to the middle class, but they provide an investment penalty, and they penalize small business.
What good is the tax cut if you have no income because there are no jobs? Obama keeps promoting Big Business and Big Government and we know scientifically that they are prone to cascade failures that can destruct the entire network on which they are based. We also know scientifically that networks such as living organism favor distributed adaptable networks because they are more robust and rarely suffer catastrophic failure.
Why is no one shouting from the roof tops the emperor has no clothes?
They are treating middle class Americans as if they are stupid, and are incapable of understanding the truth. What is more disturbing is that the media uses the authority principle to sell Obama and these authorities which have a stake in the status-quoi feed the same bull and sell Americans down the river.

Media wake up and do the right things by the country. Networks have certain laws that govern them. Look up Lazlo Barabasi and ask him about the dangers of centralized systems!
There is a scientific basis for why capitalism is superior to socialism, and why we need small distributed government versus big government. Centralized systems are useful only in generating standards.

Obama don’t tell me you are for the middle class, when you are just selling them into indentured servitude to big corporations! Show me how you will bring wealth creation to the middle class.

You people are ignorant at best - the economy is fundamentally strong - the fact that the democatic congress bullied Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (whose former CEO's who were paid between 90 and 150 million each and are Obama's main economic advisors) into lending to people who had absolutely no business owning a home is I guess besides the point. THESE PEOPLE DESERVE TO LOSE THEIR HOUSES. The knew they couldn't afford the payments and figured that the government would bail them out. They are the ones that have put the system under pressure. They were irresponsible and knew it. The rest of the economoy is strong - stronger than China, Russia (who has had to close their market for 2 days) and all of Europe combined. John McCain is the only one who in 2005 and 2007 warned about the lack of oversight and Fannie and Freddie. Obama is in the pockets of the corrupt officials and so is Chris Dodd

One comment I would like to make regarding Mr. McCain is that on one hand he claims that the workers of the US are the fundamentals of the economy. If that is true, then why has he been opposing the Minimum Wage bill? Can anyone from the GOP side explain this?

It seems the only way Dems can go after McCain is to take one of his statements and distort it. He said that the US economy is good, meaning the basic American worker, etc. He did not say that Wall Street was good by that statement. A good leader will not telegraph to the world any more weakness than is already apparent. I doubt that Obama standing up and wringing his hands, saying oh no the economy is broken is going to help our credit ratings overseas! Donald Trump, a man who knows a thing or two about money, just endorsed McCain over Obama as the best man to handle the economy during Trump's interview on Larry King.

You think the 401(k) statements are going to look bleak, wait until Barack Hussein Obama hits all of the businesses with his new taxes! There will be nothing left for those of us who work because he'll give it all to those WHO CHOOSE NOT TO WORK.

I love the way McCain is suddenly taking liberal views on the economy. I've always said that, aside from a few fundamental beliefs, Republicans are just Democrats, twenty years ago. If you'll recall, Republicans, twenty years ago, believed global warming was "tree hugger" nonsense, but now, well, they've been "sayin' it for years"! Twenty years ago the idea of dealing with the drug problem by funding treatment programs was crazy talk. Now? Well, I guess they still haven't quite grasped that one yet (save for a few). And now we have economic regulation. Hell, McCain's been sayin' it for years! This is the first election in my lifetime where I had two "liberal" candidates to choose from. Ahh, I see a shift in Republican ideology on the horizon.

I've seen enough by now to make the critical assesment of the problems we're seeing, and sorry folks, it's called blind optimism.

Yeah, it's easy to do- just listen to your GOP representatives, and they'll have you in a financial, terrorist, and moral pickle with their cheerleading words as soon as you assume they're "looking out for your best interests".

sorry, they're not looking out for your interests, and all this last eight years has shown us is how blind optimism has reassured folks time and again, despite warnings to the contrary, that the methods used in government are nothing more than cheerleading and opti-speak.

When the truth comes down, they're the last thing you want to hear, in light of REALITY.

McCain is no different from the last profesisonal cheerleader the US elected for president.

Make it change, USA. Or don't learn.

your choice, I suppose. You, as a people, seem to like being in crisis mode all the time.

I object with the Writers assumption that everyone attacking McSame is a Democrat! I for one will NEVER vote for these BIG SPENDING SOCIALISTS and I have the same problem now with the NEO-GOP which has become the BIGGEST SPENDER in HISTORY! I was once a GOP Small Business Committee Chairman!

I am now proudly a LIBERTARIAN PARTY member! We believe in small fiscally responsible government! We believe in the Rule of Law based around our Constitution and Bill of Rights! (kinda like your Grandpa's GOP, but better)

We are the ONLY Party for ENDING the WAR ASAP!
We are the ONLY Party for Balanced Budgets!
We are the ONLY Party for Personal Liberty!
We are the LAST REAL AMERICAN PARTY with our Presidential Candidate on the ballot in over 45 states, which is no small feat considering the GOP/DEMS do everything they can to prevent us from advertising and meeting each and every States requirements to be on their Ballot!

We are clearly the last HOPE FOR AMERICA!

DON'T WASTE YOUR VOTE HOPING THAT ONE OF MAJORLY CROOKED TWO WILL SOMEHOW REFORM THE CROOKED SYSTEM THEY CREATED FOR THEMSELVES!

The GOP/DEMS are afraid of what could happen if the Libertarian Party get their message out! DEMAND THE PRESS COVER THE LIBERTARIANS, although they probably won't because, history has shown that it could mean IRS Audits, FCC investigations, ETC!

The fact that McCain seems even close is so very surprising to me. He has a tarnished brand, been promoting financial deregulation, pushing for privatizing Soc Sec and wanting to go after yet another middle east country. These things are all contrary to the best interest of the vast majority of people. Even McCain realizes that at this point -- which is why he is changing his tune. I bet he won't say a thing about Soc/Sec privatization.

I can only think that the race is close because there is certain number of people that would never vote for a black person for President (be it B. Obama, C. Rice or C. Powell) that this race is still close.
I remember my Grandfather saying, "I'd never vote for a black man for President, no matter what." He is gone now, but there are others with similar mindset.

Had the Dems nominated a white male, this would have been a blow-out. I still think Obama will win, but it certainly does make things a bit more dicey.

If people are dumb enough to fall for the Republicans again I'll be shocked. But I'll also believe that the average citizen is a channel-surfing, anti-curious, anti-science moron.

The only thing McCain has said regarding what he will do about the economic crisis is that "I will fix Wall Street." How exactly (which has yet to detail in any fashion), when you think the fundamentals are strong? (and stop lying---you didn't mean the American workers when you said it; the labor force itself isn't an economic fundamental--employment rates and wages--which relate to the labor force--however, are). And in the meantime, his cluelessness is compounded by his negative campaign advertisements that blatantly lie about Obama and his policies/beliefs. He is running an absolutely pathetic campaign--and I fear that many other clueless Americans are falling for it.

Republicans call for less government? To bad "The Government" has ended up taking over all of these companies due to their failed policy and theory. The one-tracked minds have led to exactly what they say they do not want. They need to re-tool and get with the program and that should be years from now because the USA cant afford for them to figure it out on the job.

We are back where we started at 2000... just in debt, engaged in two wars, the constitution raped, and 4 to 5 dollar gas. The Bush administration has been a disaster and I think it is just crazy that there are actual people that will back this ticket again??? What are you people doing???? Why because What??? I dont understand at all but the country will soon figure out if we want a future or work for republicans.

I wish people really thought that way but most are stuck in their own pre-judgments. Please for the sake of this country really look at what will help rather than whats like you. Elect those people as your reps and senators but not the President.

Its true, it should be the most capable not the most like you. It becomes a more mature and objective choice. We have already seen what happens when you vote for just like you. His name is George W Bush!

Did you vote for George Bush not 1 time but twice and you are now going to vote for John McCain? Please rethink how you come to this conclusion. Are you voting for somebody that is the man that resembles you the most? Why because your job is just like being the president of the United States? Barack Obama is nothing like me nor do I have to like him. He is the most capable and intellectual of the two. You vote for who is going to best represent and lead this country and its time for some people to start growing up.

Yesterday, Sen Obama claimed that we can steer our way out of the current economic problems. It would be impossible to steer our way out of this predicament if the fundimentals of the economy aren't strong.

The house of cards crashing around him, I bet McCain now wishes he had picked Mitt Romney, instead of Barbie Palin. With the economy in shambles, the “character” gimmick issue is off the table and we know how much Sarah knows about economy. Mitt Romney could have definitely helped McCain with this front. McCain’s short-sighted political game has definitely caught-up with him. With McCain’s track record of relentless deregulations and his pronouncement of his illiteracy of the economy leaves him “dead in the water” and Obama is now ceasing the momentum (latest polls show Obama up 5%) and ride it to victory.

Even with the events that have unfolded recently (i.e. economy), I still think the dem's will blow it in November! They are too timid and the republican's are experts in "smear". They (repub's) cater to those who cannot think for themselve's. So, since there are more "stupid" people than intellectual's in this country, I think the math speaks for itself. Talking to some people, it amazes me that they are picking non issue reasons to decide who to vote for. People still think that Obama will, once elected, send out a "signal" to all muslims or african American's to irraticate everyone else. Some think that just becuase McCain was a POW, or that he a rich white man, it give him the right to be president. I'm done! This election has shown me the ineptitude of people. This will be probably my last involvement in following elections. This has given me such a bitter taste!

At a town hall meeting in a small city of usa, republican candidates sen. john mccain and gov. sarah palin both called for reforming the financial markets "in wall street and washington," as mccain and palin put it.

McCain: We're going to reform Wall Street and Washington.

Palin: I have that confidence. I have that readiness...

McCain: I believe in you, Palin. You are totally qualified.

Palin: I already spoke with some specialists on it, Jonh.

McCain: Ohhh!!! And who are they?

Palin: Some friends, architects and decorators of Alaska

McCain: But the fundamentals of our economy are very strong, Palin.

Palin: Yes! I know Jonh McCain.

McCain: We need to put fire and put an end in the crisis in our markets...

Palin: I already spoke with God, Jonh.

McCain: Ohhhh!!! And what did he say?

Palin: Put fire there is not mission of him. But he indicated 2 names for us, Jonh.

John McCain keeps contradicting himself lately on so many issues. The fact is that he’s changing his positions based on polls. But, it is certainly to portray himself as the candidate of change. How can you be a “maverick” and at the same time you support the Bush administration in almost every “wrong decision” that George Bush and his administration have made. How can you separate them since they belong to the same political party? No matter how hard he will try to separate himself from George Bush, the stigma of the Bush administration will be there. He’s an opportunist — when the circumstances change, he undergoes a conversion of convenience.
As the Bambara of Mali say, “No matter how much the world changes, cats will never lay eggs
Guy at guyblaise.comhttp://guyblaise.com/

We are seeing the result of Republican anti-reform, anti-regulatory attitudes. The Republicans have removed depression era firewalls and build-in financial controls. And the Bush/Chaney administration has outsourced, like everything else, oversight responsibilities back to Wall Street! Talking about fox guarding the henhouse! For a little history background of how we got here, Phil “Mr. Mental Recession” Graham (who is Sen. John McCain's economic adviser and co-chairs his presidential campaign) is the single most responsible person of this meltdown. Phil with the blessing his Republican cronies, including McCain, gutted the Glass-Seagal Act. The purpose of Glass-Seagal was to separate commercial banks that focus on consumers from investment banks, which deal with speculative trading and mergers.

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which replaced Glass-Seagal, was written by the Wall Street lobbyists. It allowed commercial banks, investment banks, and insurers to merge (which would have violated antitrust laws under Glass-Steagall). Once the Act passed, an influx of "megamergers" took place among banks and insurance and securities companies that resulted today’s mega-investment houses.

Shortly after George W. Bush was elected president, Congress was trying to pass a $384 billion omnibus spending bill, and while the debates swirled around the passage of this bill, Senator Phil Gramm clandestinely slipped a 262-page amendment into the omnibus appropriations bill titled: COMMODITY FUTURES MODERNIZATION ACT. The essence of the act was the deregulation of DERIVATIVES TRADING (financial instruments whose value changes in response to the changes in underlying variables; the main use of derivatives is to reduce risk for one party). This act enabled AIG to get into the riskiest of all CREDIT DEFAULT SWAP BUSINESS. Insuring potential default of all sorts of bonds, which is 70 Trillion dollars business!

In 2003, Gramm left the Senate to join UBS, which had acquired investment house PaineWebber due to his deregulation bill. At UBS, Gramm lobbied Congress, the Fed and the Treasury Department. During Gramm's tenor at UBS and as a lobbyist, Congress passed the RESPONSIBLE LENDING ACT, billed as an anti-predatory-lending measure, but was called the "Loan Shark Protection Act" by consumer advocates, as it was designed to preempt stronger state laws against anti-predatory lending. The Fed largely ignored the underlying and growing problems within the subprime mortgage/housing markets.

And there you have it: An unmanned house, with very little safeguards and controls in place driven by uncontrolled greed. The result: depression era like consequences—possibly, Depression 2008!